BERNSTEIN LEADS TOYOTA AS GREMLINS RULE THE DAY IN TOPEKA

BERNSTEIN LEADS TOYOTA AS GREMLINS RULE THE DAY IN TOPEKA

TOPEKA, Kan. (May 20, 2012) In an often bizarre day of racing, Brandon Bernstein advanced to the Top Fuel semi-finals to lead Toyota in Sundays NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Dollar General Summernationals at Heartland Park Topeka. With drastically changing wind and weather conditions, the days racing action appeared to focus not on who was the fastest, but simply who could make it down the Kansas track. In fact, the second and third rounds of Top Fuel combined to see just one dragster able to make a clean pass. Unfortunately, those gremlins extended to the Toyota contingent as well. Ironically, the day began with Toyota driver Morgan Lucas running a blistering 3.745-second pass (third-quickest in NHRA history) to establish a new track record as early times bettered those seen in qualifying. He would then square off with his Morgan Lucas Racing teammate Bernstein, who ran an impressive 3.787 opening round run to set up what appeared to be an epic battle between the two drivers who had led four of the five Top Fuel sessions up to that point. The result would be both drivers spinning their tires and Bernstein advancing to the semi-finals by a matter of inches in a pedal-fest with a 4.267-second pass. After advancing to the semi-finals for the second race in a row, Bernsteins day came to an abrupt end when his car broke while preparing to stage and he was unable to attempt a semi-final run. Gremlins seemed to stretch throughout the Toyota camp to both number one qualifiers, as well. Antron Brown red-lighted in the second round of Top Fuel, while Cruz Pedregon appeared to have point leader Robert Hight beat in the second round in when his Funny Car suddenly veered across the center line just before the 1,000-foot mark, disqualifying Pedregon and his 4.14-second run from competition. Rounding out the Toyota contingent, Alexis DeJoria, Jeff Arend and Tony Pedregon each were eliminated in the opening round of Funny Car. None of the three were able to make a clean pass as the changing weather conditions played havoc with the Funny Car field. This weekend marked Pedregons first race campaigning the new 2012 Toyota Camry Funny Car body. Shawn Langdon and Khalid alBalooshi also were eliminated in the first round of Top Fuel as Langdon was unable to complete a clean run, while alBalooshi was defeated narrowly by Lucas despite running the second-lowest ET of the weekend and a career-best 3.768-second pass. The NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series resumes in two weeks at the Toyota SuperNationals in Englishtown, New Jersey, June 1-3. The race will mark the first-ever NHRA event where Toyota serves as title sponsor. Toyota Drivers, Results Topeka, Qualified/Finish Top Fuel: Brandon Bernstein, Lucas Oil/MavTV Toyota Top Fuel Dragster, 3/Semi-finals Antron Brown, Matco Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster, 1/Rd. 2 Morgan Lucas, GEICO Powersports/Lucas Oil Toyota Top Fuel Dragster, 6/Rd. 2 Shawn Langdon, Al-Anabi Racing Toyota Top Fuel Dragster, 4/Rd. 1 Khalid alBalooshi, Al-Anabi Racing Toyota Top Fuel Dragster, 11/Rd. 1 Funny Car: Cruz Pedregon, Snap-On Tools Toyota Camry Solara Funny Car, 1/Rd. 2 Alexis DeJoria, Patron Toyota Camry Funny Car, 11/Rd. 1 Jeff Arend, DHL Toyota Camry Solara, 13/Rd. 1 Tony Pedregon, Herzog Toyota Camry Funny Car, 14/Rd. 1 2012 Wins (3) Brown, Phoenix; Lucas, Gainesville, Houston 2012 Poles (9) Lucas (3) Pomona, Gainesville, Las Vegas, Houston; Langdon, Phoenix; Brown, Topeka; C. Pedregon (3) Gainesville, Houston, Topeka QUOTES: Brandon Bernstein, Lucas Oil/MavTV Toyota Top Fuel dragster: "The team did a hell of a job. The MAVTV car was just great all weekend. It just felt like it was our weekend, unfortunately it wasn't. We really thought we had the car to beat. It's just unfortunate it broke when it did. It could have just as easily happened at any point during the weekend. It's really disappointing and unfortunate that it happened when it did. We wanted a win. And of course to add insult to injury, Dave (Grubnic semi-final opponent) smoked the tires on his run. I knew that was coming. It's now two races in a row where we've gone to the semi-finals. Both of those races were there for us to win. It's put a lot of confidence into the guys. They know we've got a great race car and we'll keep plugging at it until we break through for that win." Morgan Lucas, Geico Powersports/Lucas Oil Toyota Top Fuel dragster: "This is the best both our cars have ever run, easily. It's good to have that feeling that this is the best car I've ever had. Plus, we got to do something that no one else has even been able to do, which is a nice consolation to end the weekend with. We made a lot of progress that first round. We threw down an awesome run, but in the second round the track just went away on everybody. We thought we'd peeled the motor back enough. Both of us smoked the tires in the same spot, and I just got beat by the better driver. I'm proud it was the guy we hired to drive our second car because Brandon is doing just an awesome job. I got a little excited and probably could have pedaled my car a lot better. I could have been a little smoother with that. At the time I did what I thought was right, and it wasn't. All you can do is learn from that mistake." Antron Brown, Matco Tools/Toyota Top Fuel Dragster: "We always qualify well here. I just pushed the envelope too much. It taught me a lesson. Sometime you have to be reminded not to push so hard. This is a racetrack that we just want to win at real bad. I just hate losing, it doesn't matter how. I didn't need to go up there and push it like I did. I have all the confidence in our team that all I have to do is my job. Just trying to press too hard, I know better. Cruz Pedregon, Snap-on Tools Toyota Camry Funny Car: Looks like we got some oil on our left tire and it flat out got away from me. I feel bad for the team. We made the right calls today, though. We just need to come back strong at Englishtown and get it right. Average Rating: 0 Rate This: 1 2 3 4 5

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AMERICAS BEST-SELLING CAR TUNED UP FOR 2013 NASCAR SEASON

AMERICAS BEST-SELLING CAR TUNED UP FOR 2013 NASCAR SEASON

Camry Race Car Now Shares More Similarities to Production Sibling SALISBURY, N.C. (May 22, 2012) -- Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. (TMS) and TRD, U.S.A. (Toyota Racing Development) today formally introduced the new 2013 Toyota Camry that will compete in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) beginning next season at TRDs Salisbury, N.C. facility. The introduction of the new 2013 Camry for NASCAR competition marked the culmination of an aggressive redesign to provide the 2013 Camry with an updated and more-unique identity. TRD worked together with Calty Design, part of Toyotas global network design team, to create an on-track Camry that incorporates design elements which give Americas best-selling car its distinct character. Were thrilled to finally unveil our new 2013 Camry and we think NASCAR fans will really appreciate that our new on-track Camry looks like the one in their driveways, said Ed Laukes, TMS vice president of marketing communications and motorsports. Our 2013 Camry looks more like the production vehicle than ever before, and we hope this helps revitalize the long-standing relationship between fans and manufacturers in NASCAR. Never before have we had a Camry competing in NASCAR that looked so similar to its production counterpart. A new front grill-area that matches the production model, distinct character lines down the side of the vehicle and an updated rear bumper make the redesigned 2013 Camry stock car more relevant than ever before to its showroom sibling. Were extremely proud of the new Camry and the development of the car was truly a unique process, said Lee White, president and general manager of TRD. NASCAR and all four manufacturers were brought together to guide the direction of the new cars. We all worked together to put the S back in NASCAR -- we all wanted race cars that look more like our stock, production models -- and together we accomplished that. Our new Camry for 2013 is a great looking race car. Everyone at Toyota is eager to have our drivers in a race car that more resembles the street Camry. For 10 straight years, and 14 of the past 15 years, the Toyota Camry has been the best-selling car in America. Built at Toyota manufacturing facilities in Georgetown, Kentucky and Lafayette, Indiana, the 2012 Toyota Camry was recently named the Best Redesigned Vehicle by Kelley Blue Book. In addition, the Camry has been named the Most American Car by Cars.coms American-Made Index for three consecutive years. In an effort to create more distinct and stock vehicles for the race track, NASCAR worked together with the four series manufacturers to determine what areas were either locked in or open for unique design. NASCAR also allowed for the exchange of glass for solid body pieces. When everyone at Toyota first saw the design of the 2013 Camry, the first reaction was, Theyre actually going to let you race a car that looks like that?, said Andy Graves, TRDs vice president of chassis engineering. That just demonstrates how excited everyone was about the new design of the Camry stock car. The new 2013 Toyota Camry will make its NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debut at Daytona International Speedways Speedweeks in February. About Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A., Inc. is the marketing, sales, distribution and customer service arm of Toyota, Lexus and Scion. Established in 1957, TMS markets products and services through a network of nearly 1,500 Toyota, Lexus and Scion dealers which sold more than 1.64 million vehicles in 2011. Toyota directly employs over 30,000 people in the U.S. and its investment here is currently valued at more than $18 billion. For more information about Toyota, visit www.toyota.com, www.lexus.com, www.scion.com or www.toyotanewsroom.com. About TRD, U.S.A. (Toyota Racing Development) Powering all of Toyotas American racing programs is TRD, U.S.A. (Toyota Racing Development) in Costa Mesa, Calif., and Salisbury, N.C. A subsidiary of Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc., TRD serves as the North American racing arm for design, development and assembly of Toyotas factory racing engines and chassis. TRD powers Toyotas racing activities in NASCAR, NHRA and USAC, among other series. Average Rating: 0 Rate This: 1 2 3 4 5

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TOYOTA NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) - Post-Race Notes & Quotes - Charlotte Motor Speedway

TOYOTA NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) - Post-Race Notes & Quotes - Charlotte Motor Speedway

Denny Hamlin (second) was the highest finishing Camry driver in Saturdays NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Camry drivers Kyle Busch (third) and Joey Logano (sixth) also recorded top-10 finishes on the 1.5-mile track. Logano led three times for a total of 26 laps (of 200) after starting from the pole at the North Carolina race track. Camry driver Jason Bowles also led one lap in the event. Other Toyota drivers in the field included Mike Bliss (12th), Tayler Malsam (20th), Travis Pastrana (24th), Joe Nemechek (29th), Brian Scott (31st), Jeff Green (32nd), Jason Bowles (33rd) and Kevin Lepage (43rd). DENNY HAMLIN, No. 20 Sport Clips Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Finishing Position: 2nd How was your race today? Its a good points day -- the owners points for these guys. Just fought this car all day long. Fought everything about it -- the entry, the center and the exit and the motor. Just didnt have that great of a car. We were able to get it good enough at the end to run those guys down. Proud of our effort. This is a great run for this Sport Clips Toyota. I want to get these guys a win. I keep talking about it because we keep finishing second, but eventually well knock down the door. What happened with the motor? I complained about the motor early -- just didnt feel like it ran at the end of the straightaway for some odd reason. Ive been wondering where our speed was all weekend. We tried to change the carburetors and that didnt fix it. Just got stuck 14th or so for a while until we got the handling until it was at least drivable and then we were able to make our move to the front. We were good on long runs -- just didnt have a lot of front line speed. I have to get better at our race day adjustments -- I just feel like Im sending our crew chief off in the wrong direction at the start of these races. How do you recover and prepare for tomorrows 600-mile race? Theres certain meals you can take that keep fluids in your body a little bit better. Theres different fluids you can take that keeps your hydration level up. Ive been testing stuff like that for the last three or four years -- taking my heart rate from like 160 on average during a race to like 130 just trying different fluids and different meals. Weve scienced that out a little bit and I feel like I have a good team around me to help with the hydration stuff. All is good as far as thats concerned. KYLE BUSCH, No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry, Kyle Busch Motorsports Finishing Position: 3rd Does this finish help the confidence of your race team? It was a really good race for us -- coming home third is pretty good for our Monster Energy Camry. The guys have worked really hard at trying to make our program better and getting it to where it needs to be. I thought we were gaining on the 22 (Brad Keselowski) there and then all of the sudden my right front (tire) went away. I just used it too hard and pushed it too much there. It was a solid effort -- cant say enough about Mike Beam (crew chief) and all these guys. They have done a nice job at getting these cars better and better each and every week. This is a top-three for us at a mile-and-a-half, so cant be too mad about that. How did your car handle? Our Monster Energy Camry was fast and through the early stages of the race it just seemed like wed really struggle with too tight up off the corners and as the run would go along it would really get bad. The last run of the race, we came down pit road for fuel only there after we had just taken rights (tires) so our lefts were pretty old and we made some adjustments -- track bar and wedge and really seemed to work for us. Brought the car to running up front like that and had some faster lap times and kept the right front tire on it longer at least and we could run with the leader. I just wasted too much time with Kasey Kahne there -- he was running me hard and trying to hold us off there at the end for the start of the last run. The leader got too far away and cut about half the distance out and was never able to close much more than that. I just burned the right front off like I had all race long. At least it was later in this run. Were making gains on it. Well just keep working hard and getting it to where we need to be. Do you think you could have gone as far as the 22 car on fuel? No, theres no way our stuff would have done that. Thats definitely different, but I guess anything is possible sometimes. Maybe they saved really hard under cautions and everything. I dont think we could have pushed it like that. JOEY LOGANO, No. 18 GameStop Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Finishing Position: 6th What happened with your tire strategy? It didnt play out the way it was supposed to. It didnt play out right according to a sixth-place finish. We were just talking -- maybe had a third-place car. Its just we tried to -- we tried a little different strategy and when youre up front there its kind of hard to know what everyone else is doing. We did fuel only and then we -- if the run went more than 10 laps, we would have been alright. It went 10 laps, so then we took four tires and we went back to 12th or 15th or whatever it was. We had to work our way back up, so just needed a longer race to recover from what we screwed up with in the beginning. Overall got a pole today, so thats good. Just wish we were a little bit faster. We werent quite quick enough to win the race anyways, but I feel like we had a third place car for sure. Are you pleased with your finish? Well still take it for sure, but I just felt like we were faster than that. We knew we were a third-place car all day. We led some laps -- we were up front there for a while. Just strategy got us. We had the wrong strategy. It bit us and we went back to 15th and we had to work our way back up there with only 50 (laps) to go -- didnt have enough time. It felt like a long enough race, but didnt have time still. Its hard to recover in short Nationwide races. If you make a mistake, you cant recover quick enough -- theres not enough time. Its kind of part of our sport. MIKE BLISS, No. 44 Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports Finishing Position: 12th TAYLER MALSAM, No. 19 G-Oil Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports Finishing Position: 20th TRAVIS PASTRANA, No. 99 Boost Mobile Toyota Camry, RAB Racing with Brack Maggard Finishing Position: 24th JOE NEMECHEK, No. 87 AM/FM Energy Wood & Pellet Stoves Toyota Camry, NEMCO Motorsports Finishing Position: 29th BRIAN SCOTT, No. 11 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Finishing Position: 31st How was your race car before the accident? We had a really strong Dollar General Camry today. We just got our last pit stop done and we were good on fuel. I was trying to get everything I could on the restart, but they just didnt do a very good job cleaning the track. I saw the oil right before I hit it. As soon as I hit it the car just went sideways on me and washed out. Unfortunately, we wrecked a fast race car. We had a car capable of running in the top-five and maybe with one more adjustment and a set of tires we could have contended for a win. Now were done. JEFF GREEN, No. 14 Hefty/Reynolds Wrap Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports Finishing Position: 32nd JASON BOWLES, No. 81 American Majority Toyota Camry, MacDonald Motorsports Finishing Position: 33rd KEVIN LEPAGE, No. 10 Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports Finishing Position: 43rd Average Rating: 0 Rate This: 1 2 3 4 5

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COONS GIVES TOYOTA THIRD CONSECUTIVE HOOSIER HUNDRED VICTORY

COONS GIVES TOYOTA THIRD CONSECUTIVE HOOSIER HUNDRED VICTORY

TORRANCE, Calif. (May 26, 2011) Jerry Coons took the lead on a Lap 14 re-start and never relinquished it on the way to giving Toyota its third consecutive Hoosier Hundred victory in the 59th running of the prestigious event at the Indiana State Fairgrounds on Friday night. The win gives Toyota its second straight triumph to open the 2012 USAC Traxxas Silver Crown Series season. The victory is the second in a row at the Hoosier Hundred for Coons, as he joins such drivers as A.J. Foyt, Al Unser Jr. Jimmy Bryan, Rodger Ward, Chuck Gurney and Jack Hewitt as drivers who have more than one of the coveted titles. Other past Hoosier Hundred winners include Mario Andretti and Parnelli Jones. "Winning this race just once and joining that list of names, that was a huge deal in itself, said Coons. To come back and join the group of guys who have won it more than once, and won it back-to-back, its just amazing." In addition to Coons victory, the other big story of the night revolved around another Toyota driver as Bryan Clauson began the first half of a busy weekend that will culminate in his driving in his first Indianapolis 500 on Sunday. Clauson, the crowd favorite, began the night on a high note in winning the pole. After being inverted to the fifth starting position, he climbed as high as third before handling problems dropped him back to an eventual seventh-place finish. Kody Swanson drove to his second consecutive top-five finish with a fifth as he remains in second-place in the point race after two races. Kodys younger brother, Tanner Swanson, was the fourth Toyota-powered driver to earn a top-10 finish with an eighth and Brian Tyler placed 14th. USACs huge weekend of racing continues tonight with the 67th running of the Night Before the 500 Midget Car Series event at Lucas Oil Raceway Park in Indianapolis. Toyota USAC Silver Crown Series Hoosier Hundred Results, Qual/Fin. Coons, 3/1 Clauson, 1/7 K. Swanson, 5/5 T. Swanson, 15/8 Tyler, 11/14 USAC SILVER CROWN SERIES POINTS: 1. Kaeding-111; 2. Swanson-109; 3-Jones-93; 4.T.Swanson-90; 4-t.Hines-90; 6. Coons-88; 7. East-82; 8. Santos-63; 9. Daum-63; 10-Gamester-62 Next USAC Silver Crown Series Race: June 22, Newton Iowa Speedway USAC NATIONAL MIDGET CAR SERIES POINTS: 1-Hagen-222; 2. East-219; 3. C. Armstrong-195; 4.Larson-192; 5.Clouser-187; 6.Clauson-166; 7.Jones-157; 8.Hines-141; 9. Roberts-136; 10-Kuhn-123 Next USAC Midget Car Series Race: May 26, Lucas Oil Raceway, Indianapolis, Ind., Night Before the 500 Average Rating: 0 Rate This: 1 2 3 4 5

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HAMLIN CLAIMS PAIR OF RUNNER-UPS IN CHARLOTTE

HAMLIN CLAIMS PAIR OF RUNNER-UPS IN CHARLOTTE

Toyota teams tally five top-fives at Charlotte Motor Speedway CHARLOTTE, N.C. (May 27, 2012) -- Camry driver Denny Hamlin captured a pair of runner-up finishes at Charlotte Motor Speedway and Toyota drivers captured a combined five top-five finishes in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) and NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) over Memorial Day weekend. NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) Camry driver Hamlin finished in the second position in Sunday nights NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) at Charlotte Motor Speedway -- the seasons longest race of the year. Hamlin, who started in the eighth position, ran among the top-10 contenders throughout the evening and led twice for 13 laps (of 400) during the 600-mile event. Hamlin appeared to be a contender late in the race, but could not reel in eventual race winner Kasey Kahne in the closing laps. It was a good day, said Hamlin, following the race. I knew our car was going to be pretty strong. Had a good idea in practice that we were going to be pretty good. executed great today on pit road -- getting on and off pit road under green flag pit stops, we made up time. Theres nothing we did wrong, we just got beat by a better car today. Hamlin was followed to the finish by his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Kyle Busch, who claimed a third-place result. Busch started in the 17th position, but quickly darted into the top-10. Like Hamlin, Busch consistently raced with the leaders at Charlotte, but found himself unable to catch Hamlin and Kahne. It was a really good race for us, said Busch, following the race. We definitely fought our battles there throughout it and 600 miles is a long day. Just missed it on a couple runs there -- got ourselves a little bit too far behind. The M&Ms Camry was awesome. Were keeping our string of good, strong finishes going and thats whats important right now. Busch led three times for a total of 55 laps en route to his fourth consecutive top-five finish in NSCS competition. In addition to Busch and Hamlin, Toyota drivers Martin Truex Jr. (12th) and Clint Bowyer (13th) also finished in the top-15. Other Toyota drivers in the field included Landon Cassill (18th), Joey Logano (23rd), Bobby Labonte (47th), Travis Kvapil (29th), Mark Martin (34th), David Stremme (38th) and Joe Nemechek (41st). The Sprint Cup Series returns to race at Dover International Raceway on June 3. NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES (NNS) In Saturdays NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Hamlin recovered from an early-race mechanical issue to finish in the second position. Hamlin started 13th and quickly realized his car had a motor issue with the carburetor. Utilizing an early-race caution on lap 13, the team replaced the carburetor, but the lengthy delay resulted in the No. 11 Camry returning to the track in the 37th position, one lap down. Despite restarting in the back of the pack, Hamlin immediately made steady progress moving through the field and reemerged among the top-10 on lap 115 (of 200). After adjusting the car to improve the handling, Hamlin later moved into the top-five on lap 154 and came to the checkered flag behind race-winner Brad Keselowski. I complained about the motor early, said Hamlin, following the race. We tried to change the carburetors and that didnt fix it. Just got stuck 14th or so for a while until we got the handling until it was at least drivable and then we were able to make our move to the front. We were good on long runs. In addition to Hamlins top-10 finish, fellow Toyota drivers, Kyle Busch and Joey Logano, finished in the third and sixth positions, respectively. Logano started the race from the pole and led three segments for 26 laps in the race. The 22-year old driver appeared to be in contention for a top-five finish, but his teams race strategy did not play out as intended. It didnt play out the way it was supposed to, said Logano, following the race. We tried a little different strategy and when youre up front there its kind of hard to know what everyone else is doing. We did fuel only and then we -- if the run went more than 10 laps, we would have been alright. It went 10 laps, so then we took four tires and we went back to 12th or 15th or whatever it was. We had to work our way back up, so just needed a longer race to recover from what we screwed up with in the beginning. Other Toyota drivers in the field included Mike Bliss (12th), Tayler Malsam (19th), Travis Pastrana (24th), Joe Nemechek (29th), Brian Scott (31st), Jeff Green (32nd), Jason Bowles (33rd) and Kevin Lepage (43rd). The Nationwide Series races next weekend at Dover International Speedway on June 2. NASCAR K&N PRO SERIES WEST Camry driver Eric Holmes claimed sixth in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West (NKNPSW) race at Brainerd International Raceway in Minnesota on Saturday to finish as the top Toyota driver in the field. Holmes started in the fifth position and moved to the front to lead one lap (of 50) on the 2.5-mile road course configuration before finishing in the sixth position. Other Camry drivers in the field included Cameron Hayley (12th) and Chris Evans (17th) The NKNPSW returns to action on June 2 at the Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The NASCAR K&N Pro Series East also resumes racing on June 2 when the series visits Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston Salem, N.C. Toyota NSCS Driver Finishing Positions @ Charlotte Motor Speedway 2nd, DENNY HAMLIN 3rd, KYLE BUSCH 12th, MARTIN TRUEX JR. 13th, CLINT BOWYER 18th, LANDON CASSILL 23rd, JOEY LOGANO 28th, BOBBY LABONTE 29th, TRAVIS KVAPIL 34th, MARK MARTIN 38th, DAVID STREMME 41st, JOE NEMECHEK Toyota Drivers in NSCS Point Standings following Charlotte Motor Speedway* 3rd, DENNY HAMLIN, 437 points 6th, MARTIN TRUEX JR., 404 points 8th, KYLE BUSCH, 391 points 12th, CLINT BOWYER, 366 points 16th, JOEY LOGANO, 314 points *unofficial point standings Toyota NNS Driver Finishing Positions @at Charlotte Motor Speedway 2nd, DENNY HAMLIN 3rd, KYLE BUSCH 6th, JOEY LOGANO 12th, MIKE BLISS 19th, TAYLER MALSAM 24th, TRAVIS PASTRANA 29th, JOE NEMECHEK 31st, BRIAN SCOTT 32nd, JEFF GREEN 33rd, JASON BOWLES 43rd, KEVIN LEPAGE Toyota Drivers in NNS Point Standings -- following Charlotte Motor Speedway* 8th, MIKE BLISS, 291 points 10th, JOE NEMECHEK, 262 points 11th, TAYLER MALSAM, 254 points 13th, BRIAN SCOTT, 225 points 15th, JASON BOWLES, 205 points *unofficial point standings Toyota NKNPSW Driver Finishing Positions @ Brainerd International Raceway 6th, ERIC HOLMES 12th, CAMERON HAYLEY 17th, CHRIS EVANS Toyota Drivers in NKNPSW Point Standings -- following Brainerd International Raceway* 5th, ERIC HOLMES, 234 points 8th, CAMERON HAYLEY, 195 points *unofficial point standings Average Rating: 0 Rate This: 1 2 3 4 5

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TOYOTA NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) - Post-Race Notes & Quotes - Charlotte Motor Speedway

TOYOTA NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) - Post-Race Notes & Quotes - Charlotte Motor Speedway

Camry driver Denny Hamlin (second) was the highest-finishing Toyota driver in Sundays NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Hamlin was followed to the finish by his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Kyle Busch, who finished in the third position on the 1.5-mile track. Buschs third-place result marked his fourth consecutive top-five finish in NSCS competition. Camry drivers led 69 laps (of 400) with Hamlin (13 laps), Busch (55 laps) and Landon Cassill (one lap) each taking turns at the front of the field. Other Toyota drivers in the field included Martin Truex Jr. (12th), Clint Bowyer (13th), Cassill (18th), Joey Logano (23rd), Bobby Labonte (28th), Travis Kvapil (29th), Mark Martin (34th), David Stremme (38th) and Joe Nemechek (41st). Following Charlotte, four Camry drivers are in the top-15 in the unofficial NSCS driver point standings -- Hamlin (third), Truex (sixth), Busch (eighth) and Bowyer (12th). DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Finishing Position: 2nd How was your car today? This is our new 2012 car -- this is the first car that Darians (Grubb, crew chief) really had a say in building. Definitely a step in the right direction with our teammates right there -- second and third. We just need a little bit more of everything -- we need a little bit more motor, a little bit more aero and a little bit more mechanical. Well get there. Just used all my tires up trying to get to him -- I was driving with my eyes out and my hair on fire for 20 laps on that restart trying to catch him (Kasey Kahne). He just had a superior car tonight. Do you feel good about your race? Were going to hold our heads high today. We have a lot of stuff that we learned with our race cars. Were definitely making strides in the right direction. How was your race? It was a good day. I knew our car was going to be pretty strong. Had a good idea in practice that we were going to be pretty good. Our whole FedEx team just did a great job. We executed great today on pit road -- getting on and off pit road under green flag pit stops, we made up time. Theres nothing we did wrong, we just got beat by a better car today. How hard were you driving in the closing laps? I knew that my guys were probably on top of the box seeing me catch him, catch him and catch him, but I just used up everything I had when I got to him. Just didnt have quite enough. KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&Ms Red-White-Blue Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Finishing Position: 3rd How was your race? It was a really good race for us. We definitely fought our battles there throughout it and 600 miles is a long day. Dave Rogers (crew chief) did a great job. These guys did a good job giving me a good car tonight. Just missed it on a couple runs there -- got ourselves a little bit too far behind. Were just missing a little bit of something -- just something that we lack a little bit of speed or a bit of longevity sometimes throughout the runs. The M&Ms Camry was awesome -- cant say enough about all our partners -- Interstate Batteries, Monster Energy and everybody thats helping us here. Were keeping our string of good, strong finishes going and thats whats important right now. Get ourselves locked in the Chase. Wins would be more important right now -- we would like to have this final 10 obviously. Were the long green flag runs beneficial? The green flag runs helped though because once you get about 30 or 35 laps on a set of tires, you can start searching around and moving around and some guys would go to the top, you could make the middle work, you could make the top work. It took so long for the cars to slow down to a certain point that then you could make speed up on the top side. I could do that, but it just took so long in the run to get to that point. If you went up there too early, youd lose spots. I did that a couple times today. Its 600 miles here. Its the Coke 600 -- thats what you get. Is your team starting to turn a corner this season? I think were good. Were definitely a contender each and every week. Were just not winners yet. I wish we knew what it was to get us to that point. Theres just a little bit of something lacking -- whether its speed or whether its longevity in the runs. It seems like we can have one or the other and we have to put it all together. The guys did a great job -- Denny (Hamlin) finishing second, we run third so thats really good for us. Well move on and go to Dover and see what we can get there. Are you frustrated not to win a NSCS race at Charlotte yet? Man, I want to win at Charlotte so bad. This stinks -- second, third, fourth every single time here. Its a little frustrating being able to finish in the top-fives like that all the time when you are that close. Its also good to finish like that. We just need to carry on that momentum. This is a good race for us so we can bring back some good notes for when we come back in October. MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Finishing Position: 12th Does the extra 100 miles make this a difficult race? Its tough, yeah. Its a tough one for us, so I guess 12th is okay for what we had all night. We really fought the car and kind of knew coming into the race after practice yesterday that we were off a little bit, but I guess a 12th-place day when youre off a bit isnt too bad. Going to one of my favorites next week, so glad to get through this one and guys did a good job fighting. We just couldnt ever get the handle all night. We could get it to run good for 10 laps and then it would just get really tight, so we couldnt ever get any front grip in it. Move on to Dover and see if we cant get to victory lane. Well see. CLINT BOWYER, No. 15 5-hour ENERGY Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Finishing Position: 13th LANDON CASSILL, No. 83 Burger King Toyota Camry, BK Racing Finishing Position: 18th JOEY LOGANO, No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Finishing Position: 23rd BOBBY LABONTE, No. 47 Kingsford Toyota Camry, JTG-Daugherty Racing Finishing Position: 28th TRAVIS KVAPIL, No. 93 Burger King Toyota Camry, BK Racing Finishing Position: 29th MARK MARTIN, No. 55 Aarons Armed Forces Foundation Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Finishing Position: 34th How frustrating was it to exit the race early? Thats so disappointing. I thought we were going to have a top-10 finish tonight. We worked like heck on the Aarons Dream Machine throughout the race trying to get it to turn like we wanted, but we just never could get there. We still werent very bad, but if we could have got it to turn a little better I think we could have gone up there and raced with them. My crew did great and well go get them at Dover. DAVID STREMME, No. 30 Inception Motorsports Toyota Camry, Inception Motorsports Finishing Position: 38th JOE NEMECHEK, No. 87 AM/FM Energy Wood & Pellet Stoves Toyota Camry, NEMCO Motorsports Finishing Position: 41st Average Rating: 0 Rate This: 1 2 3 4 5

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Toyota looking for high-volume Prius assembly in U.S. by 2015

Filed under: Hybrid, Plants/Manufacturing, Toyota

Rumors that Toyota would some day build the Prius in the U.S. have bounced around for years, with a location in Mississippi often being cited as the most likely candidate. After that plan was officially scrapped in 2008, a new version of the same story returned in 2010 when a Toyota executive vice president said Mississippi Prius production could start up in 2016. Given the on-again, off-again history of the story, we weren't surprised when not much was officially said about the matter in the last two years. That changed today.

Koei Saga, senior managing officer in charge of drivetrain R&D at Toyota, has informed Automotive News that Toyota is now thinking of making the Prius in the U.S. by 2015 and wants to get hybrid drivetrain components - motors, inverters, batteries (likely lithium-ion packs) - from North American suppliers. The base fourth-gen Prius will probably still use nickel-metal hydride batteries, but the batteries made in the U.S. might be li-ion.

A 2015 timetable means it is likely that America would make the fourth-gen Prius model, which is due around that time. The reason this story keeps coming back is because it makes sense to build the Prius in the States. Sales are strong here and expected to grow, so extra production somewhere will almost certainly be needed to meet demand. Plus, a strong yen means that Prius vehicles built in America would likely come at a lower cost to Toyota.

Toyota currently makes the Camry hybrid in the U.S. at its plant in Georgetown, KY. The question as to whether the U.S. Prius would be made there, at Toyota's Mississippi plant, at the Tesla plant in Fremont, CA (formerly known as NUMMI) - where rumors about Toyota and the electric car automaker building electric cars like the RAV4 EV have also floated around in the past - or somewhere else completely will need to be answered at another time.

Toyota looking for high-volume Prius assembly in U.S. by 2015 originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 30 Apr 2012 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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